Forceps for the coagulation and/or sealing of tissue have been proposed for many years, and it has been known since at least the 1950's for such forceps jaws to be provided with teeth to assist with the gripping of tissue between the jaws. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,668,538 and 2,796,065 are two such examples of forceps having jaws with complementary teeth. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,515,139, 3,608,554 & 3,815,607 are further examples of forceps with jaws having complementary teeth. With all of these examples of prior art forceps, the features on each jaw are designed so that the jaws interlock in a complementary manner.
A more modern example of a patent on a forceps instrument with speciality jaws is U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,142 to Eggers & Associates. This patent describes a number of different arrangements in which grooves, teeth or ridges are provided on one or both jaws. However, in this instance the jaw features are provided as spacers to separate one jaw from the other, rather than as features to improve the gripping of tissue. The features are either provided solely on one jaw, or if they are provided on both jaws, they are provided in a matching or complementary manner.